McCoy: Mathews running out of bounds a “critical mistake”

San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy was not happy with the decision Ryan Mathews made to run out-of-bounds late in their 19-9 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night.

With the Chargers holding a 16-7 lead and 2:34 left on the clock, Mathews stepped out-of-bounds on a four-yard carry that allowed the Colts to save one of their three timeouts. McCoy was noticeably upset on the sidelines from the plays as he shouted at Mathews.

“I can’t repeat what I said on the sideline yesterday,” McCoy said, via Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It comes down to, that could have cost us the game.”

McCoy saw first hand how critical such a decision could be while serving as the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 2011. In a December game against the Chicago Bears, Marion Barber stepped out-of-bounds for the Bears to save time on the clock for Tim Tebow and the Broncos’ offense to get one last shot. They came through as Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas for a 10-yard touchdown to force overtime. Denver then won in the extra session.

It was a “critical mistake” in an otherwise encouraging performance for Mathews. He carried for 102 yards on 22 carries for the Chargers.

17 responses to “McCoy: Mathews running out of bounds a “critical mistake””

Being a Bears fan I remember that game when Barber ran out of bounds. That really pissed me off. There were also some other coaching mistakes that game if i remember correctly that helped the Broncos win. Ultimately it was Tebow’s momentum that carried the Broncos to that victory.

McCoy ONLY has the right to yell at Matthews if the Chargers spend a significant amount of time in practice and skull sessions working on situational football. Otherwise, it’s McCoy’s fault, not Matthews’. Many teams don’t thoroughly practice/plan for these situations.

Sorry but it was not a “critical mistake,” Mike. If it was, the Chargers would have lost the game. I’d call it a boneheaded mistake. Mathews was probably thinking too much about not fumbling the ball rather than staying in bounds.

Unlike McFadden, who was flying down the sideline with two defenders angling him off. He turned inside and laid the wood on both of them and sent them flying.

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What’s your point? McFadden is softer than Mathews. The guy has been in the league longer, and has NEVER completed an entire season. Additionally, he’s not even good enough to manufacture wins (like LT was, or AP is now). So, stick to the facts.